July 20, 2011 – Barnes-Jewish Hospital and its physician partners at Washington University School of Medicine are once again the only St. Louis-area hospital or medical institution to be listed among America’s elite medical centers on U.S.News & World Report magazine’s list of “America’s Best Hospitals.” For the 19th straight year, the hospital earned a spot on the magazine’s “Honor Roll,” coming in at No. 11 nationally and ranking in 15 individual specialties.

In the cancer specialty category, the Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine was listed as No. 16.

The standards used to select “America’s Best Hospitals” are rigorous. Of the nearly 5,000 U.S. hospitals to be evaluated, only 140 have ranked specialties, and only hospitals earning high marks in six or more of 12 select specialties made the “Honor Roll.”

Overall, only 17 hospitals are listed on the “Honor Roll.”

By individual specialty, Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine rankings are:

Pulmonology — 8

Nephrology — 9

Orthopedics — 9

Ear, nose and throat — 10

Diabetes and endocrinology — 12

Gastroenterology — 12

Ophthalmology — 12

Neurology and neurosurgery — 13

Psychiatry — 13

Rheumatology — 14

Cancer — 16

Urology — 17

Cardiology and heart surgery — 18

Gynecology — 18

Geriatrics — 19

The 2011 guide to “America’s Best Hospitals” appears online at www.usnews.com/besthospitals and in a printed version published by U.S. News, available on newsstands Aug. 30.

"Being consistently ranked on the ‘Honor Roll’ is another example of why we're a national leader in medicine," says Barnes-Jewish Hospital president Rich Liekweg. "The world-class patient care, research and education that makes us an ‘Honor Roll’ hospital is thanks to the efforts of our nurses, clinicians and team members as well as our physician partners at Washington University.”

The methodology U.S. News uses to rank 12 of the 16 specialties it evaluates is complex. Whether and how high a hospital is ranked depends largely on hard data, much of which comes from the federal government. Mortality rates and care-related indicators such as nurse-to-patient ratios are examples of such data. In addition, a reputational score is factored in from a survey of physicians who are asked to name hospitals they consider to be the best in their specialty.

Hospitals in the four remaining specialties – ophthalmology, psychiatry, rehabilitation and rheumatology – are ranked solely on their reputation among specialists.